Worries of toxic floodwaters dry up fiddlehead sales in NB

Tide Head, N.B. – The worst flooding to hit New Brunswick in nearly a century has unexpectedly spread ruin and misfortune to parts of the province hundreds of kilometres away from the high-water mark.

May’s historic flooding swamped southern parts of the province. But none of that occurred in Tide Head, a tiny village more than 300 kilometres north of Moncton that is known as “The Fiddlehead Capital of the World.” Yet, their entire crop of wild fiddleheads has been tarnished.

That is because of a widespread belief among consumers that the flood rendered all of New Brunswick’s fiddleheads poisonous. Driven by statements from provincial emergency officials, the fiddlehead scare has had a negative impact on growers, pickers and distributors in a region already hit by hard economic times. | READ MORE